Page 21 - March 2025

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March 2025 The NaTioNal ButtonBulleTiN 19
QA Classification Chair
&
Yessy Byl

A
QUESTIONS NSWERS

During the judging of competition trays at National in 2024, judges and clerks
were asked by the Classification Committee to make notes of any Blue Book
issues that they came across. There were many reasons for the comments: mea-
sles, misunderstandings, mistakes and more! The Classification Committee is
very grateful to all the judges and clerks who took the time to make these com-
ments which will help us identify problems and address them. There were also
many comments that we don’t think require changing the Blue Book. Rather, we
would like to deal with them in the Q & A columns in the Bulletin in order to
clarify existing Blue Book rules and guidelines. So stay tuned!

Q: What’s the difference between “coralene” and “coralene-
like”?

A: “Coralene” is a term used in the antique world to describe tiny glass beads
applied to a glass surface using enamel paint. Heat is then applied in order to
fuse the beads onto the glass. The term was later also used to describe glass
beads applied to porcelain. Subsequently, the tiny glass beads were also applied,
without the use of heat, to other button surfaces such as wood, horn, metal and
even plastics such as casein. We use the term “coralene-like” to describe the
glass beads on those other surfaces. And of course there is always an exception!
The modern moonglows apparently had the glass beads simply glued onto the
glass base…. No heat applied. So technically, those
moonglows would be called “coralene-like”. However,
since it is difficult to tell whether they
are fused or glued onto the glass
base, BOD should be applied
with respect to calling them
simply “coralene”. (By the way,
the words “glass beads” are
commonly used to refer to tiny
glass balls.) Div . III "Coralene-like"
fabric button .
Div . I Coralene glass button .